Noroviruses are the leading cause of severe viral gastroenteritis and are responsible for 50% of all acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States and Europe [1]. Although the severity of disease is usually moderate, lasting 1-3 days, infection can be especially virulent in young children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, with the latter group experiencing chronic diarrhea and virus shedding for over a year [2-8]. Importantly, it is estimated that 200,000 people die each year from norovirus infections, primarily children in the developing world [9]. An effective vaccine would be particularly advantageous for the very young and aged populations, military personnel, children and healthcare providers, food handlers, cruise ship passengers, and populations of the developing world [10]. Immunotherapeutics are especially needed for treating immunosuppressed populations experiencing long-term infections with chronic diarrhea. The lack of understanding of the extensive antigenic relationships among the large number of norovirus strains and the complex relationship between host protective immunity and virus antigenic heterogeneity are the primary obstacles to norovirus vaccine development.
The present invention overcomes previous shortcoming in the art by providing norovirus blockade epitopes and methods of their use in therapeutic and diagnostic applications.